The software equivalent of a tool-and-die specialist; one who
specialises in making the tools with which other programmers
create applications. Many hackers consider this more fun than
applications per se; to understand why, see uninteresting.
Jon Bentley, in the "Bumper-Sticker Computer Science" chapter
of his book "More Programming Pearls", quotes Dick Sites from
DEC as saying "I'd rather write programs to write programs
than write programs".
[Jargon File]
Nearby terms:
Tool Builder Kit « Tool Command Language « TOOLS « toolsmith » TOP » top-down design » Top-Down Model
